Curriculum Mentalization Training for educational professionals Erasmus Project

Project Title

Curriculum Mentalization Training for educational professionals

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Health and wellbeing; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

Psychosocial disadvantages and adversity during (early) childhood and development determine mental health and wellbeing as well as behavioural adaptation in later stages of life. Recent studies evidence a high prevalence of psychopathology and behavioural difficulties in children and adolescents – especially amongst those subgroups characterised by social and emotional special needs requirements in child and youth welfare services. Thus, there is increased need for interventions that facilitate resilience and inclusion and a critical reflection of such approaches.
Mentalising describes the capacity to ascribe meaning to one’s own behaviour and to that of others based upon intentional mental states. Those include feelings, wishes, beliefs and thoughts. The capacity to mentalise develops during childhood und matures over adolescence informed by an individual’s attachment patterns and relational experiences. The capacity is a fundamental building block for the development of the self and for affect regulation. Prolonged exposure to stress may impair mentalising, temporarily or in a sustained fashion (trauma). Under heightened arousal (stress) it becomes increasingly impossibly for individuals to take another person’s perspective and to achieve a differentiated and reflective way of problem solving. Children and adolescents with a reduced capacity to mentalise or those with particular vulnerability to stress often tend to express challenging behaviours in school, at home with their families or with peers. This is thought to critically impact social learning and, in turn, school attainment, social participation and resilience. It is, thus, vital to better understand such behaviour and psychosocial stress.
The mentalisation approach is an innovation conceptualisation that has roots in theory of mind, attachment theory and psychoanalysis. The successful application of the concept in psychiatry and psychotherapy has inspired extensions into other fields that have enabled the discovery of key aspects underpinning affect regulation, mindfulness and attention, interpersonal behaviour and social learning. This new understanding has recently been introduced and increasingly informed educational settings. This can facilitate dealing with psychosocial stressors, promote social participation, education and wellbeing. Furthermore, mentalising also fosters mental health and prevents burn out in professionals working in pedagogical fields.
Our international and interdisciplinary group now proposes to develop a mentalisation-based curriculum to train those educational professionals with the aim to increase their resilience, improve their reflective capacities to understand and deal with challenging behaviour in a way that directly informs daily practise. The project will lead to the development of a pilot curriculum entitled „Mentalisation Training for Professionals in Pedagogical Fields“ (primary and secondary school, early intervention and pre-school context and social education) and it will thereby contribute to the professionalization of those working in educational settings. Attendees of the training increase their understanding of the important of mental states for successful interpersonal relationships in pedagogical settings and will gain an deepened understanding of how to faciliate epistemic trust and mentalising with regard to enhancing socio-cognitive learning and developmetal processes in groups. The integrated reflective practice that will be run in parallel leads to a better detection and dealing with stress and conflict and therefore will improve inclusion-centred education, particularly of children and youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. As a result it will increase and maintain wellbeing of children and adolescents as well as that of professionals. The teaching material produced and the results and insights from the accompanying evaluation of the training will be prepared as intellectual output and disseminated to allow adaptation and use across the EU. train the trainer workshops for interested professionals will be used in order to inform, guide and support others to implement the curriculum and training in their institutions. Furthermore, academics and faculty will be supported in how the resulting curriculum and teaching material can be integrated into their university trainings of future professionals.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 324452 Eur

Project Coordinator

EVANGELISCHE HOCHSCHULE DARMSTADT & Country: DE

Project Partners

• LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN
• UNIVERSITAET KLAGENFURT
• Stichting ‘de Viersprong, specialist in persoonlijkheid, gedrag en gezin’
• UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
• PAEDAGOGISCHE HOCHSCHULE LUDWIGSBURG